Together We're Better
by Chersti
Summary: Priestly had been hiding himself for a long time, and felt that it was time for a change. He was ready to take the next step and grow up.
1. Chapter 1

**Together We're Better**

Chapter 1

**A/N: I know that almost all the TIH-fics here are similar to this one, but this is my first fic and I needed to start with something simple. I'm not very good at writing long texts, so the chapters of this fic will be quite short. As of yet I'm not sure of how many chapters there will be, but so far I have three chapters already written. I appreciate constructive criticism, but flamers are asked to keep their distance. I did not have a beta for this story, so all grammatical and spelling errors are my own, and as I said I haven't posted anything before so there might be some strange formatting on the text. **

Priestly sighed as he let himself down on the couch of his small apartment. Though pleased with himself for getting Fuzzy22, or Jeff as it turned out, and Jen together at last, it brought up the issue of Tish's and his relationship, or rather lack thereof. He'd always had a thing for her, even from the first day she walked in to the "The Beach City Grill", but she'd never seemed to notice him. Of course she would laugh at his jokes or at his antics, but whenever a muscular, tanned surfer would enter the shop, Priestly just seemed to disappear.

It pained him to see her flirt with all the lowlifes that saw fit to walk in to their small sub shop. See her working her way through the male population of Santa Cruz at an alarming rate, self-respect seemingly forgotten. He'd always worried that one day her man-eating ways would get her in to trouble, that one day one of those oh so good looking surfers would overstep his boundaries. Of course that had now happened – with Brad.

When she had showed up for work with a cut above her eye and weak explanations about falling, it was all he could do not to do something drastic then and there. He was usually a very sensible person, almost never resolving to violence, but when he witnessed Brad threatening Tish all semblance of sense left him. He just couldn't stand there and watch him abuse and threaten her.

When he'd asked her why she never went out with a nice guy, she'd answered that no nice guy had ever asked her. Priestly had always considered himself a fairly nice guy – _Why couldn't she see him?_ He snorted at that thought. Of course she hadn't seen him, he hadn't let anyone see the real him in a long time. Even his appearance confirmed this, hiding himself behind the loud slogans on his t-shirts and the glaring colours of his hair. He wore them like a warning sign for everyone not to get too close.

His appearance would be easy to fix, the deeper part of the issue, however, not so much. He would always make jokes so that no one would look at _him _to closely. Whenever the subject of _him _would come up in a conversation, he'd always deflect it, steering the conversation over to some safer subject. When he was a kid, he'd always get picked at. Being a boy, small for his age, slightly feminine in appearance with his full lips and long lashes, in an all-boys school – wasn't easy. That was when he'd found that making jokes and acting like a clown, gave him the power to control _what_ they laughed at. When he'd gotten older he'd found solace in loud music and the look that went with it. It proved to be just as effective at keeping bullies at bay as jokes, and it also irritated his mother – which was always a benefit.

Lying on the couch pondering his life at the current moment, Priestly realised that maybe it was time for some changes. He'd been hiding for way too long, and if he was going to go after Tish she deserved to get the real him, not some facade created by an insecure teenager many years earlier. After all, the comment on how no nice guy had ever asked her out could be seen as encouragement for him to step up and ask her out. God knows she deserved it, deserved someone that would show her real love and care, not based on her looks, but based on the amazing person that is Tish.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm posting them all at the same time. Don't know yet how many chapters there will be, but time will show. Still not a very long text, but at least it won't take to long to read :P**

He'd never been this nervous in his entire life. Not even when he opened the response from the college he'd applied to six years ago, was he this nervous. Standing before Tish awaiting her reply on his request for a date with her, he thought he might throw up. When she responded with: "That depends..." He could've died right there on the spot. Luckily, she continued with saying: "... Depends on if I get to know your real name?" Of course that wasn't much better, but if he was really going to give her the real him, he might as well give her his real name as well, although not without a fight. Boaz was after all quite embarrassing. The biblical name had never really been anything he felt he could relate to, but it was still his name, no matter how stupid it may sound.

When he woke up that morning, he had started with taking out all the piercings and shaving off the sideburns. The process had taken longer than it, strictly speaking, needed to, but over the years they had become a part of him, and parting with them was hard. Although he still had the mohawk, the absence of piercings and sideburns on his face already made him look unfamiliar. He'd made an appointment at a hair salon the day before, and even called Trucker to let him know he was going to be late in for work that day. Finding something to wear had also proven difficult, seeing as he only had his slogan t-shirts and otherwise punk style clothes.

He ended up wearing one of his t-shirts with a pair of fairly regular-looking jeans. As he walked in to the hair salon he was greeted by a blond woman behind the reception desk. He saw her stealing a look at his mohawk, clearly wondering what he was doing in a salon like that. After being led to a chair in a corner of the salon, a hairdresser made her presence known. When he explained to her that he wanted his hair back to its natural colour and that she was allowed to do what she wanted to in terms of the style of it, she seemed pleased and eager to begin the styling.

All in all, the process took three hours. As it turns out, getting dye out of your hair isn't nearly as simple as putting it in there. After seeing the damage all the years of hair dye had done to his hair, the hairdresser told him the best thing would be to go short in order to get rid of all the damaged hair. Thinking he might as well go all out if he was going to make a change in the first place, he agreed with her. Seeing himself with short hair and a natural hair colour for the first time in at least ten years, was a bit of a shock. He almost didn't recognize himself, with the new hair and with the absence of piercings he looked almost respectable. That was definitely going to take some getting used.

On the way out of the hair salon he thanked the hairdresser for her time, and she thanked him back for finally getting to do a real "makeover" as she put it. Clothes's shopping was next on his list. He figured the mall would be a good place to start, but when he got there he ended up wandering aimlessly around at a complete loss as to where to go. Usually he shopped over the internet, and the few times he didn't, he never went to the mall – the clothes there were usually way to conventional for his tastes. All the same, he now found himself standing in front of_Banana Republic_ pondering whether or not to go in. After finally deciding that he should go in, he enlisted the help of one of the store assistants to pick out a suitable outfit.

When he saw the end result of the "makeover" standing in his apartment, in front of a mirror, wearing his new clothes, he had seriously wondered if it was really worth it. However, as he was kissing Tish, or rather Platisha, he decided that it most definitely was. Both Tish and he still had a long way to go, but it seemed they both agreed that trying to go that way together was a good idea, and that made both of them happy.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Since I'm not American I know very little about the educational system in America. I tried to find out how long it would take to become a high school teacher and the requirements to become one, but it proved much more difficult than first anticipated. So please forgive any errors concerning that area of my story. **

**I know also realize that it probably would have been better to post all the seperate chapters as one big one, but I hope it doesn't bother you too much :)**

Priestly walked in to the sub shop after Tish, both laughing and smiling. They'd been going out for almost six months now, and things seemed to be going pretty steady for both of them. The other employees of "The Beach City Grill" had all hoped that their relationship would work out, but them being Tish and Priestly a lot of things could go wrong – the biggest obstacle being themselves. Fortunately for everyone, Tish and Priestly seemed to have handled the issue that is themselves pretty well so far.

He had opted to keep most of the new look. The hair had stayed short, partially because he'd discovered that having short hair seriously cut down the need for grooming. Now he was actually on time for work most days. As for the clothes, a dress shirt and khaki pants weren't really practical when you worked in a sub shop, but he didn't wear quite as punky clothes anymore either. Fairly innocent things as the slogan shirts got to stay, but more outrageous pieces like the kilt got take a permanent vacation from his wardrobe.

Tish had been concerned that he was changing himself just for her, but he had assured her that was not the case. He told her about his past, and how he felt it was time to put those insecurities behind him. He also told her about his college degree in English literature, and how he had been unsure of what he wanted to do with his life after school. That was how he'd ended up in Santa Cruz working at "The Beach City Grill". She'd been surprised to hear of this, she'd always known he was smart, but never thought more of it.

Tonight they were having a farewell party for both Priestly and Tish. He'd applied for a spot in the teacher education program at several different colleges, and got accepted at a college in Phoenix. Everyone was happy that he'd finally decided that he wanted to be a teacher, but unfortunately that meant he had to quit his job at the sub shop. Tish was going to move with him as they figured that was as good a time as ever to take the next step and move in together.

Towards the end of the evening Trucker interrupted the happy assembly by tapping a spoon to the beer bottle currently in his hand. Everyone looked at him expectantly when he started talking: "Priestly, when you walked in to my newly opened sub shop two years ago, I didn't really know what to make of you. On one hand you had a red Mohawk with a kilt to match, but on the other hand you were so gentle and sweet to Jen that I knew I had to hire you. Tish, on the other hand, you walked in to the shop a year later demanding a job with such confidence that there was no way I could deny you. One would be blind not to see Priestly's infatuation with you, which apparently you were. Now you both stand before me, madly in love, happy, and with the promise of a bright future. I hate to see you go, but I still wish you all the luck for the future!" At this everyone applauded, and the party continued.

As they made their way over to the car, Priestly and Tish took one last look at "The Beach City Grill". Tish turned to Priestly: "I'm really going to miss this place. It's like the end to an era!" Priestly smiled at her: "It's not like we're never going back. After all we did promise to call at least once a week," – "And visit every holiday," Tish added – "But I see what you mean," Priestly continued, suddenly a bit more serious: "It's not going to be the same." At that they got in the car and drove off to an unknown future – together.


End file.
